Update 09.29.17 10:00 a.m. EDT

The house reconvenend later Thursday and passed the same version of the FAA extension bill that had been cleared by the Senate ... without the flood insurance provisions. The bill now goes on to President Trump for his signature, extending fuding for the FAA through March 31, 2018.

But The Senate Removed Flood Insurance Provision, Kicking The Bill Back To The House

Congress is once again coming right down to the wire to vote on a bill that would continue to authorize spending on the FAA at current levels for the next six months. The current continuing resolutions expires Saturday.

After being beaten back by Democrats earlier this week on an extension, the House passed a bill Thursday that does not have any spinoff of ATC included, but does include additional hurricane relief for people affected by Harvey, Irma and Maria. It also included additional flood insurance and health care provisions that Democrats objected to in the earlier bill that was defeated on Monday.

The vote was taken using a procedure that requires only a simple majority in the House, and no amendments were allowed on the floor. The measure passed 268-115, mostly along partly lines, according to a report from The Seattle Times.

But the work is not done in the House. The U.S. Senate has also passed the bill, but removed the language dealing with flood insurance. The two versions must be identical before it can be sent to the President for his signature, so the House will be required to reconvene and take another vote on the bill before the Saturday deadline.

Florida Senator Bill Nelson (D) said earlier this week that if the flood insurance provision stays in the bill, it woud not pass the Senate, according to an article posted on the website Hot Air.

The airline trade association Airlines for America released a statement urging passage of the bill. “Air travel is vital to our economy every day. Millions of passengers, leisure and business, are booked to fly in the coming days and weeks as are hundreds of thousands of tons of critically important cargo. All would be severely impacted by a shutdown of the FAA," the statement said. "Similarly, the industry’s significant relief efforts to get supplies to, and people out of, hurricane damaged areas would also be undermined,” said A4A President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio. “There is too much at stake and too many lives on the line to allow our nation’s aviation sector to be brought to the brink of an unnecessary shutdown. We urge both chambers of Congress to prioritize passing an FAA extension that keeps our controllers in the tower and our skies open for flying.”

(Image from file)

FMI: www.house.gov, www.senate.gov